THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY: The Ripple Effect

If you have been writing for long, I think you may certainly agree with what I am about to say. If you are new to writing, you may come to realize my words are true.

WRITING IS A LONG, FOREVER JOURNEY.

There, I’ve said it.

To the ill informed who think writing a book is as simple as throwing some words down on paper, I say writing is like planting an acorn and having the patience to wait for the mighty oak to mature into something beautiful.

To the ill equipped who think writing a book doesn’t mean they need to know the basics of plot, sentence structure, characterization or the dozen other parts which make up a good story, I say take away those things from classical writers like Shakespeare or Chaucer and all you will have are kindergarten tales best told around a cozy campfire.

Great writing takes time…lots of it…and a big ol’ heaping of patience to carry you through during those dark moments when you doubt your ability to create. And those moments will surely come if you are truly a writer at heart. Perfectionism will sometimes override common sense and you might begin to wonder why you are on this journey in the first place.

But then you will start to remember all those who came before you…other travelers on the path to publication who, while in the dark uncertain moments of their own beginnings, also took a moment to wonder about their own journey. And the one thing which made them stand out amongst the crowd of hopeful want to be authors? They managed to take that leap of faith, to cast one small pebble of belief into the water and watch the ripple eventually turn into something bigger than themselves. They nurtured a core belief in themselves they are good enough, strong enough to be on that path. And in this one defining moment they lit the way for the rest of us.

All we need to do now is toss our pebble in as well and have the patience to let the ripple effect takes us wherever our writing journey may lead us…

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LUNADAR: Homeward Bound

Ruler by day, a reluctant pirate by night, 18-year-old Princess Ariana fights for her subjects in the waterfall city of LUNADAR. In a kingdom surrounded by fairies and mermaids, and ravaged by deadly Drundles, only a chosen few are trusted to guard her daughter, Candra, as the secret heir to the throne.
But it only takes one ill-fated meeting for Ariana to suddenly be plunged into an escalating web of secrets found in her father’s journal, a deadly kidnapping, and an ever-weakening resolve to turn her back on the call of the merman’s song.
With Ariana’s world falling apart and the future of LUNADAR at stake, how will she bring her father’s murderer to justice and fulfill a deathbed promise to protect Lunadar’s legacy?

$16.99

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International best selling, award-winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, LUNADAR: Homeward Bound (a YA fantasy), is now available in ebook and print form from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, and other online retailers

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2 thoughts on “THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY: The Ripple Effect”

Thank you for writing this! I have to admit that I have also been down that trail for a long time now. It hasn’t been easy. I first started writing at 12, and I dreamt of being a bestselling author. All that has been tested by the painful moments of rejection and failure.

Finally, I got the point! Writing a book is a narrow road. Without a passion for what you do, you can’t move on.

I started writing my own stories and poetry around age 6, started winning local writing contests by age 11, became discouraged in my twenties and set down my pen for about 20 years (but the dreams never died), took to writing again in my 40’s, began writing professionally at 49 and now I’m a published children’s author, international best seller of inspirational journals, and editor/publisher of my own publishing house.

My modest writing accomplishments have not come easily or quickly. My “failures” over the years were merely lessons in patience while I wait for my stories to blossom into something others might enjoy. In the meantime, I’ve spent those years cultivating a network of dear writerly friendships which help to keep my spirits lifted during those times I might question my right to call myself a writer and author…lol…